Bottle-capping machine



May 7, 1929. J. L. GOLDIE BTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed Aug. 22, 192'? fitto/MW.

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Patented May 7,

UNITEB STATES.-

.PATENT oFFies.

JOSEPH L. GOLDIE, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YGRK, AS'SIGNOR, BY .WIE-SNE ASSGNMENTS, T0 .KLEEN KAP CRPRATION, 0F SYBACSE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF VNEWT YORK. i BOTTLE-CAPPING MACHINE.

Application `1ed August 22, i927. Serial No. 214,731.

This invention relates to mechanical means for applying closures to the mouths of milk and otherbottles', and has for its object to provide novel power actuated means for automatically handlingl discshaped bottle caps" that are formed with peripheral tabs or lugs by which the caps are removed from the bottles. A further object is to provideV a combined carton and magazine, in which the closures may bey packed at the manufactory, and from which they may be fed singly into the capping machine, without requiring reliandling of the closures. The said carton being split longitudinally throughout the length of its body and the facing margins of the slot being formed into external parallel flanges which receive, align and guide the projecting pulllugs. A further object isto provide a corresponding rearwardly facing vertical slot in the usual cylindrical cap containers with which the ordinary capping machines are fitted to receive and guide the protruding flanges of the cart-on. A further object is to provide a shuttle-like member for delivering the lowermost closure of the stack supported by the magazine or carton, to the capping position, by the `release stroke of the capping plunger, said shuttle having a recess that faces the coinciding slots of the carton and permanent cap-container which receives the protruding pull-tabs, and by which the closures are delivered to the capy ping chamber without danger ofthe tabs shifting and interfering with'the feeding or capping operation. And a further object is to so modify certain parts of a well-known capping machine that my invention may be applied without requiring any extra parts except the substitution of the split 'cylindrical carton for lthe ordinary cap-container., referred to.

l attain these objects 'by 'the means set forth in the detailed description which follows, and as illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in whichf A Figure l is atop plan view. of a bottle capping machine, the cap apply-ing parts being in the operative position, and the cap feeding parts being in the released posi tion. Fig. 2 is a partialy side elevation, and partial central vertical longitudinal section, taken on line 2 2 of Fig. l, showing the capping and feeding parts in positions corresponding to Fig. l. Fig' is a horid zontal section, taken on line 3d?) 'of Fig.2, showing the shuttle in the act of depositing a cap in the path of the plunger', the latter being released, corresponding to the dotted positions of Figs. 2 and 4. Fig. 4 is a broken side elevation taken in the direction o f the arrow'in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the fibrous carton'. Fig. 5a is a side elevation of the carton. And Fig. 6 is a plan view ofy one. of the closures. y

In the drawing, 2 represents the body of a bottle capping machine, commonly employed for applying plain disc-shaped caps or closures (not shown), which is formed with an uprightV cylindrical chamber 2, whose open bottom is formed bell-shaped to receive and center the mouth-end of an ordinary milk bottle, as A. The power-driven capping member comprises a rod 3, which reciprocates in a way 3 formed in the body 2 concentric to chamber 2', the lower end ofthe plunger 3 comprising a disc-shaped head 3, which seats the closures in the bottle mouth. Rearwardly of the chamber 2 is .dispos-ed the usual relatively short cylindrical container 4 for the plain disc-closures, whose axis parallels the of chainber 2. The top and bottom ends of the part 4 are normally open, so that the closures ordinarily gravitate to the feeding position. The caps are moved forwardly horizontally from the container 4 in a plane slightly higher than the seat w of the bottle mouth, by a shuttle-like member 5, that moves frictionally over a plane bed 2c, which corresponds to the top surface of arearwardly extending guide-arm 2d, and kbeneath a f spring-guard that projects rearwardly beyond the container 4, and exerts the requisite vtension for holding member 5 against the said bed. The member 5 is mounted between and operatedby the long arms 6 of similar L-sliaped levers which are pivoted to a horizontally movable part 5 that slidably engages the opposite edges of the guide 2d. The levers 6 are pivoted to the opposite sides of the magazine 4 by pins G', and their .short arms 6EL are connected by links 6b, to a yoke 6c, whose stem 6al is rigid to and movable vertically with the plunger 3. By this arrangement, the shuttle 5 is moved forwardlyand backwardly when the levers "6 are ,rocked by reciprocation of the plunger l3, as may be understood by comparing Figs. l and 2 with Figs. 3 and 4, and each forward llO' i stroke of the shuttle 5 carries vthe lowermost cap, as 7, from the magazine t towards the chamber 2 to be driven downwardly into the bottle-mouth by the down stroke of the head 3 (see Fig. 2), which simultaneously moves the shuttle rearwardly in position to feed the next cap 7 and so on.

The present invention relates to automatic means for feeding the disc-shaped caps 7,

that are formed with protruding peripheral p ull-lugs, as 7', which heretofore, so far as I am aware, have been invariably appliedy to the bottle mouths by hand. To this end, my invention includes first, the forming of `the permanent magazine et, with a relatively broad vertical rearwardly facing slot or opening lf (see Fig. l), that preferably extends the full length of said magazine, through which the pull-lugs 7 project, as best seen in Figs. l and 2, The slot 4E is preferably of such breadth that, the lugs 7 are practically free, and therefore the caps readily gravitate toward the feeding plane 2C. In order to enable the tabs 7 to reach the level Vof the bed 2, the spring-guard m is cut away as atm (see Figs. l and 8). The shuttle 5 is usually formed with a .forwardly facing concave margin 5, that substantially, though rather loosely, conforms to the normal curvature of the caps 7 and insures the direct forward feeding of the caps. By disposing the lugs 7, as herein shown and described, it becomesk necessary to provide the member 5 with a recess or notch, as 5b, that preferably coincides with the longitudinalcenter of said member, and intersects the concave margin 5a (see Figs. l and 8), to receive the said lug and prevent the miscarriage or accidental shifting` of the cap during its travel from the magazine toward the capping chamber 2. This arrangement insures such positive positioning of the caps in chamber 2 that the lugs 7 always face rearwardly, and when a cap enters the said chamber its forward plain portion 7a tends to gravitate slightly, while the lug 7 lodges against the rear wall of the contracted bore 2f, of the chamber 2.

This frees the lug 7 from the narrow hori zout-al way indicated at 2.X (see Figs. 2 and l) and enables the head 3 to depress the cap and effect `the proper closing` of the bottle-mouth, as shown in Fig. 2V. This latter operation is facilitated by the smaller diameter of the bore 2t being slightly less than the diameter of the disc 7, which pre= vents the cap from f gravitating into the mouth of the bottle.

A particular object ofthe present inven tion is to provide an elongated carton, asl 8,V

of novel construction, in which 500 or more of the closures 7 may be packed or stacked by the manufacturer, the said carton preferably comprising an elongated fibrous cylin- 1 der such as card-board having a longitudinal slot 8 extending from end to end, the opproper feeding of the latter, as explained.y

By this construction and arrangement, the loaded carton 8, may be readily and quickly applied to the capping machine, thereby obviating the necessity of unloading, or transferring the closures in small'lots from the carton to the relatively short magazine t. The opposite ends of the carton 8 are normally open, the same as the cylinder Il, and for the purpose of transporting the cartons 8, the latter may be simply wrapped like any ordinary package, and only the wrappers need be removed, in order to prepare the tube 8 for immediate application to the machine, as shown in Figs. vl and 2. The carton-magazines 8 may be provided at small cost, and when emptied may be discarded like the wrappers.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, is-

A -bottle capping machine including a member having bottle mouth engaging means and a bed thereabove, a slide on the bed having an opening formed to receive caps having peripheral pull-tabs, means to operate the slide, a container for the caps having a slot in its sides through which the pull-tabs extend, and a spring guard adjacent the container engaging the slide to hold same against the bed'and'formedv with a cut-away part registering with the container slot to receive the tabs.V

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOSEPH L. GOLDUE los 

